electronic Dura Ace Di2 - Page 2

I guess you are right and the bicycle has reached it's pinnacle. No need for electronic shifting, in fact if we go back to 5 speed friction bikes will be $800 again.

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I'll be able to ride a Di2 equipped bike this weekend. Going to visit a cousin who has too much money and always has to buy the biggest, newest, and best of everything. I'll let you know what I think.

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Looking forward to your comments.

i agree that downtube shifters were fun to use.

So if you get electronic shifters why on earth they don't change the STI levers design with something like a small button to press or some kind of " touch screen " in your bicycle computer ?

The actual STI levers were developed and design for a mechanical functioning.

what about an automatic shifting system based on your pulse, power output and cadence

Button on hoods could be o.k., but you don't want buttons on your computer. You definitely want to be able to keep your hands on the bars, which was the whole point of STI.

Too hard to do. Such a system would have to be tuned not only to the specific rider, but also to his/her current fitness, the length and history of the ride, etc., etc. Pretty much impossible to get right, unless you can directly control the system with your brain. That's going to be the next generation...

I'll buy it when it lands in the rubbish tip. Then it is either rubbish or negligently discarded good stuff. I'm old-school and my rush is finding the discarded good stuff both old and new .

Buying the latest technology is very expensive and you become a guinea pig. If you can afford the risk then go for it!

Not so difficult! Heart monitors are a cheap watch, blood oxygen retention is as easy to measure as cadence. Add an inclinometer, power meter and whatever. A simple black box found in any automobile will monitor 100's of variables 100's times a second and deliver according to your desire.

Where money is no object to winning is where we will see real results.

Trying to put words in my mouth certainly increases your credibility......or not. Nice try. I'm sorry if I'm not convinced by your enthusiasm and your alleged experience.

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Call me crazy, but id much rather put 3grand down and buy a new bike. atleast id know that i spent 3g on something that has the potential to make me faster...

it sounds feasible... lets make this thread patent pending !!

Don't knock Di2 until you've tried it (I love the bashers who hasn't tried or even seen the stuff but are convinced it's useless). I was skeptical at it's introduction, until I had a run on it. It is simply excellent. Will it transform a Cat 4 into a Cat 2 rider? A wheelsucker into a breakaway god? No. But neither will $5000 Lightweight wheelsets, $8000 carbon everything bikes, etc.

Di2 a great development for cycle componentry. The price is admittedly high but so is any component that is new and "exotic" in the high end road bike world. I would get Di2 tomorrow if it wasn't for the fact that I don't need another mortgage. Regardless of the bashers, electronic shifting is here and we will see more of it. Shimano is not the only ones who think so, Mavic already had a go at it (and failed with Zap and Mektronic)and even Campy are just lurking around the bend with their own version.

To the guys who think anything beyond 5 speeds and downtube shifters are a waste of time, I'm just glad you don't run the R&D depts at any company. Or we'd all still be watching 19" TV's and driving barges around and think we've reached the pinnacle.

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Tech, I certainly agree that you need development or nothing will ever progress. You definately have an arguement there. As someone who has a few hours of riding on a Di2 demo, i agree, its pretty kickass, but what i dont agree on is that it made anything better. To me its kinda like Ferrari...its available for anyone, but only a select few can really own them. Everyone else drives "normal" cars. At the end of the day, the guy in the ferrari is limited to the same speed limit as the guy in the civic.

When the price comes down to the point that most people can afford it, i definately agree that its the future of group sets, but until the time that there are competators on the market that can cause the price to go down, i dont really see it revolutionizing anything... A select few will buy it to say "hey my balls are bigger than yours" and the rest of us will continue to use mechanical shifters and will likely shift just as easily.

Well, I had asked a very specific question, and none of the Di2 promoters seems willing or able to answer it. Here it is again: My current mechanical group shifts perfectly, quick and crisp, up, down, across multiple cogs (can Di2 even do that?), with or without load. Oh, and I do not have to trim my front derailleur either, except when I go to my largest (of eleven, mind you) cogs, which I hardly ever do. If I'd stick to the ten cogs available to Di2, I'd never have to trim at all. I simply cannot see how you could improve on that. So, riddle me this: In what respect is Di2 better than what I just described? What more could I ask for?

P.S.: I'm not really knocking Di2 at all. It is, I assume, a fine groupset. I am just not sure there is a big gain to be had from it.